Lovin' thy Nighbor, maybe a little too much

Would you believe that, when putting together an all-time Senators team, I completely overlooked Frank Nighbor?

Embarrassing, right?

It’s probably because I got caught up in his last four seasons, when the centre they surely nicknamed “Next Door” managed just 15 goals in 129 games.

Somehow, I forgot about his glory days. Of course, they were more than 100 years ago, so who hasn’t?

Hey, it’s great that TSN is keeping the hockey conversation alive with something other than the repetitive topics being shoved down our throats every other day. It’s nice to take a break from wondering if the NHL season will resume or if the annual June draft will be held in June. (In other news, Christmas is still scheduled for Christmas-time).

It’s fun to discuss whether Marian Hossa was actually better than Daniel Alfredsson, or Chris Phillips tougher to beat than Anton Volchenkov, or on the same team if Craig Anderson would be Patrick Lalime’s backup.

All debatable stuff.

But it’s dumb to bring guys nobody has ever seen play into the equation, leaving decisions to be based on stats compiled in completely different eras — especially when even in doing that, things don’t add up.

Nighbor is listed as the No. 2 centre between Jason Spezza and Alexei Yashin. He was quite a dynamo in his prime, scoring 19 goals in 23 games as a rookie, then following up with 41 goals in 19 games his second season, when they didn’t keep track of assists.

But how is it he gets placed ahead of Yashin but slides in behind Spezza? In his first six seasons, the guy scored 133 times in 116 games. Wayne Gretzky would be envious.

Same goes for making Alec Connell the No. 1 Senators goalie of all time.The Ottawa native was mostly fantastic in his eight years for the Senators, winning 140 gameswith 64 shutouts, but he was also 5-foot-9 and 150 pounds, and played before the slapshot, backhand or curved stick was invented.

The 6-foot-3 Lalime would never have allowed a puck past him under those conditions.

Similar exercises with the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets will make more sense. At least none of them have a pre-wartime past to consider. We’re not going to be told there was an Oilers centre from a century ago who was better than the Great One.

LEADING OFF

Finally, a ray of sunlight. It’s not the NHL or NBA or Major League Baseball, but it’s live sports, and it’s time to brush up on your knowledge of the Bundesliga. The German government has approved plans for its country’s top two soccer leagues to resume play on May 15. Unless there’s a change, fans will not be allowed in stadiums until after Aug. 31 and the passing of Germany’s ban on mass gatherings, but there will be TV coverage. “The eyes of Europe and all the world will be on us,” Bayern Munich captain Manuel Neuer stated Wednesday, per ESPN. Indeed, this appears to be the breakthrough we’ve been waiting for …

CONNECTING THE DOTS

A report in Slate says Donald Trump, who has repeatedly bragged about his baseball playing days in high school and insisted he could have gone pro, was 4-for-29 in nine box scores dug up from his days at New York Military Academy. “There’s no chance,” Keith Law, a senior baseball writer at The Athletic who used to work in the Blue Jays front office assessing high school players, told the magazine. “You don’t hit .138 for some podunk, cold-weather high school playing the worst competition you could possibly imagine. You wouldn’t even get recruited for Division 1 baseball programs, let alone by pro teams. That’s totally unthinkable. It’s absolutely laughable. He hit .138 — he couldn’t hit, that’s pretty clear.” But the President of the United States wouldn’t lie, would he? …

GIDDY UP

Two weeks after Chase Claypool and Neville Gallimore were second and third round picks in the NFL draft, both were trampled by Chuba Hubbard in voting for the Jon Cornish Trophy winner as the top Canadian in NCAA football. “The Canadian Cowboy,” a 6-foot-1, 207-pound Oklahoma State Cowboys running back from Sherwood Park, Alta., was given the nod on 19 of 20 ballots, with Claypool getting the other. As a redshirted freshman, Hubbard was a unanimous All-American selection and the Big 12’s offensive player of the year while leading the nation in rushing with 2,094, averaging 161.1 per game, and 21 TDs. He’s on target to be a first-round NFL pick and quite possibly move past Rueben Mayes as the most prolific Canadian to play south of the border but first, Hubbard will return to Oklahoma State for his junior season. Whenever COVID-19 allows for it. “That’s the hardest thing right now,” Hubbard told The Canadian Press. “When is it going to start?” …

ON THIS (May 7, 2000) DATE

Of the 12 defencemen to score an NHL playoff hat trick, only one was a rookie. Not Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin, Paul Coffey, Brian Leetch or Paul Reinhart (although he is the only D-man to have two post-season hattys) but none other than Andy Delmore, the Windsor-born, former North Bay Centennial and Sarnia Sting. The undrafted Delmore had six goals in 20 post-season games, and three came in the Flyers’ 6-3 victory over the Penguins 20 years ago today.

FINISHING TOUCHES

Hockey playoffs in the summer might not feel so strange after all. The forecast is calling for flurries in Ontario on Saturday, which will be May 9. The way things are going, kids will have snow days in August … Just wondering, do they give 110 percent in the waiting game? … Martin Brodeur was always good at turning shots aside, but now he’s doing it to the years. The former Devils great celebrated his 48th Wednesday while still looking like he could pass for 28.

This Week's Flyers

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